Implementing your project
Monitoring: flexibility and creativity
Community engagement is not 'painting by numbers'. Even the best laid plans may not lead to the hoped-for successes. But if your plans do need revising as the project progresses, you should not see this necessarily as a failure of the design or execution. Instead, you may find that you can learn a great deal, not just about developing community engagement work, but also about the particular community you are working with.
(Case study illustrating the above point)
Effective community engagement requires a flexible and responsive approach, so that as events unfold, plans can be revised appropriately. In some cases, there is no obvious solution to a difficulty which has presented itself - that is where the idea of creativity comes in. Do not be afraid to think on your feet or experiment if needed.
Some suggestions:
- If an event you are holding appears to be running into the sand, gather together the project team and perhaps some participants with whom you have a good pre-existing relationship, and think about what could be done to re-invigorate the process.
- You might want to throw an open question out to all participants about their experience of the event so far and use that discussion to find out how to make it better. That kind of open debate - if well managed - can help build trust and confidence. Participants will be able to see the impact of their needs and suggestions on the way the process is re-shaped.
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